Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 12:38-45   Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you." He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here..."   The Lord used the miracle of Jonah as an example, but actually He was foretelling His own work. In our days, the greatest miracle is that Jesus died on the cross for us for three days, and resurrected from death after three days. Jonah was trapped inside the fish for three days, in the same way Son of Man was buried for three days. When Jesus resurrected from death, He brought salvation to human beings by forgiving, redeeming and delivering us from our sins. Verse 41 says "now something greater than Jonah is here," which refers to Jesus Christ. Miracles cannot save us; the only way our lives can be saved it through knowing Jesus Christ, accepting His salvation, and receiving the power that can change us.   The Lord said here that "The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it," because the queen from the South wanted to seek God's wisdom, so she approached Solomon in order to hear God's word. The Lord said that "now something greater than Solomon is here," which also referred to Jesus. Only Jesus can give people true wisdom, and in this complex world He can point out the right way for us. If we reject the Lord, it's same as rejecting salvation and God's grace. In our time, even though people are seeking miracles and want to know the right way, but if they reject Jesus Christ the Spirit of God won't be able to enter the world and bring forth salvation. Instead, people become more corrupt in sin. May the Spirit of God help us to turn back to Him and receive His grace. Don't let our hearts be hardened, but rather let us have softened hearts to receive everything that God wants us to learn.     Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, I thank you because you are our prophet and our king, and you are the source of our wisdom and salvation. When we lack anything, we can come before you and pray. May you cleanse our hearts and teach us your way so that we can be victorious by depending on you each day in our lives. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 12:31-37 "And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."           The Lord said that "anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." Is it because the Holy Spirit is more honorable than God the Father and God the Son? No. It is because Holy Spirit is the One in Triune God that moves in our hearts. God the Father is the planner and creator, and God the Son is the executor. When Jesus came to the Earth, He performed the work of redemption on the cross. But Bible also tells us that Jesus has completed His redemptive work by His resurrection from the death and is now seated on the throne. He has completed His work, and now is the era where the Holy Spirit works.           Holy Spirit moves in us, prompting and correcting us: When we reject the Holy Spirit, we are rejecting the Triune God. Speaking against the Son of Man could still be forgiven, for the Holy Spirit will rebuke and enlighten you. If you receive the rebuke and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and start seeking forgiveness for the sin of speaking against the Son of Man, the salvation of the Lord will cover you. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, and reject Him, there is no way the Lord's salvation could enter into our lives.           Just like Paul, who was named Saul before he came to know the Lord, was an important figure in the Synagogue. He went everywhere to persecute Christian, thinking that he was on fire for God, not realizing that he was in fact persecuting the Lord. When he was on his way to Damascus, the Spirit of the Lord shone upon him, and the Lord said to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" he asked. The Lord said to him, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." When the Holy Spirit shone upon Saul, he turned to the Lord right away. From this we know how anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Because if you accept the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and repent, salvation will come to you; but if you reject the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and do not repent, salvation will not come to you, and you will not be forgiven. May the Lord help us to accept the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and humbly turn back to Him, to receive His grace and mercy once again.     Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you, for Your Spirit always shine upon us and help us. May the Lord open our hearts and give us a gentle spirit that would accept the enlightenment and rebuke by the Holy Spirit. Help us to always turn back to You. I give thanks and pray all these in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!

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Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 12:29-30   "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry of his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."   If we want to see the Kingdom of God coming to us, we have to remove the work of the demons by binding the work of the evil one through prayers. Far too often we focus on the practical challenges in sharing the gospel or living a victorious life to a point where we have neglected the work of the evil one behind all these. If we don't bind up the work of the evil one, our work would be like trying to plunder the strong man's house without first tiding the strong man: after the hard fight we may have plundered ten chairs from the strong man, but a while later the strong man fought back and took nine of them back. This is why it is typical that thirty people came to Christ during evangelistic meetings, but only three to five remain in a few months.   This phenomenon is present in our daily lives as well. We are very good at remembering others' offense to us but could not retain any memorized verse. This is not only due to aging, it is also due to devils are trying to hinder us. Jesus says in Matthew 18, "truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." We can bind the work of the evil one through prayers in unity. Prayer is not just petitions and thanksgivings; it is also to go into warfare with God. Once a man asked the Lord's disciples to cast out demons but they couldn't. Jesus gave a command and the demons came out of the person. Disciples were confused so they came before the Lord and asked why they couldn't cast out the demon. Jesus replied that this kind of demon can only come out by prayer and fasting. So the prayer to bind the work of demons is not just a random prayer, it is a prayer that pay a price.   Yoido Full Gospel Church, the largest church in the world, has more than eight hundred thousand members and still growing. Their members attend not only the services and conferences, but they also pray earnestly. Everyday there are multitudes that fast and pray on Prayer Mountain, and there are tens of thousands of people who attend their midnight prayer meeting every night. They found out that the more they pray the more powerful in sharing gospel they become. If a mega church as such needs to pray so that their ministries could be effective, what more it is for us and our church? May the Spirit of God help us to bind the work of the evil ones in our lives through prayer, so that the power of God may be manifested through us.   Pray with Pastor Tong     Dear Lord, I thank you because you are a God that grants us power and authority. May your Spirit help us and open our eyes, so that we may see the bondage of the evil ones. In the name of Jesus, we bind all the work of the evil one, so that we would be set free and would be able to live your will. I thank you and pray all these in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!

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Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 12:22-28   ...But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons." Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. The Lord says, "if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." This seems the way how kingdom of God will come, isn't it? Jesus plus Holy Spirit can cast away the work of demons. Relying on the Holy Spirit is very important. Christians in this world need not only the salvation of Jesus, but the power brought forth by the Holy Spirit even more. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:20, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." It is not about what we can do with our power, but rather about relying on the Holy Spirit. The biggest reason that Christians feel powerless is they don't understand the work of relying on the Holy Spirit. The first time I understood the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit was when I was a young man attending a gospel training class for campus evangelism. They used a booklet, "Have you heard four spiritual principles?" The procedure was to find someone who needed gospel, and read the booklet with that person. At the beginning of the training, I was very excited. I never thought that preaching gospel could be so easy. After five week's training, we graduated. An evangelist coworker and I went out to preach the gospel. A few days later, more and more, I was afraid of going out with him. On the surface, we did the exact same thing, reading booklet with people. When he read it, someone would receive the Lord. But when I read it, there is no effect. I was frustrated. Later on, he told me that before every time we went out to preach, he spent many hours praying in front of God, asking the Lord to prepare him, to use him. Moreover, he prayed for those who he would meet, prayed that the Lord would see them. Even when we went out, he prayed that the Holy Spirit lead him, so that he could meet those who were thirsty. I witnessed the difference between him and me. He was humble, relying the guidance of the Holy Spirit, when I relied on the wonderful method I learned, not knowing to rely on God.   The secret of a victorious spiritual life is to rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. You need to rely on prayer to get closer to God, to receive the power of Holy Spirit. May branches like us be connected to the grapevine so that we receive revival power every day!      Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you. You are our grapevine, the source of our supplies. Whenever we come to you with our needs, you always give us wisdom, power, and happiness. May your Holy Spirit filled us again, pour down on us so that we can live a victorious life every day.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 12:16-21    He warned them not to tell others about him. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope."   These verses mentioned the work Jesus did on earth. He performed miracles with the spirit of God such that His words had authority. Jesus didn't perform any miracle before He was thirty. When He started preaching at thirty, the anointing of Holy Spirit descended on Him. When He preached, He had authority. When He casted demons and prayed, He had power. The Holy Spirit descended on Him so that blind could see, lame could walk, and those persecuted were set free. Those who serve God need to seek the anointing power of the Holy Spirit. By our true nature, no one can serve God. Only when we lean on God, get close to God, start receiving the anointing of Holy Spirit, can we bring out authority and power in our service.   The Lord not only had Holy Spirit in Him, but also preached the truth to gentiles. Jesus had one mission, that was to bring salvation not only to Jews, but also to Gentiles, to all the peoples. It is not God's will to save a few, but all nations and all peoples. This is what mentioned in John 3:16's "God so loved the world". This verse didn't say "God loved few" or "God loved Jews", but, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." God's heart is grand. He wanted all to be saved, not a single one to fall. The Lord came to this world to preach the truth to all nations.     Jesus humbly came to this world. Born in a manger. Spent thirty three and half years on earth. In the end, He was crucified on the cross to bear our pains in silence. On that cross, He personally absolved all our sins, and bore all the punishment for us so that we could be set free. Because He suffered for us on the cross, bore the punishment for our sins, He understood the pains in our heart suffering under evil authorities. He also understood that our lives were like that of a bruised reed, a smoldering wick. He would bring comfort, salvation to those who needed it. We are the bruised reed but he will not break. We are the smoldering wick but He will not snuff out. How precious that is!         Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you because you have borne all our weakness on the cross. Even though we are like a bruised reed, a smoldering wick, you will never cast us away. May your love pour down on us. Whenever we look upon to you, may your salvation come.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 12:9-15   ...And a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.      Pharisees came to Jesus not for the answers but rather to find evidence to accuse Jesus. Pharisees paid great attention to the laws, while neglecting that the real spiritual Sabbath was getting close to God. From another perspective, Pharisees were good intentioned: to help others not to violate laws. There is this phrase "Sabbath's walk" in the Bible. At the time of the Old Testament, one couldn't walk or perform tasks on Sabbath. At the time of the New Testament, if one needed to perform task on Sabbath, what could one do? Pharisees came up with "Sabbath's walk": on Sabbath, as long as one walked no more than "Sabbath's walk", it did not violate the law. If one needed to walk a longer distance, he first came to someone's home, and then from that home walked to another home. As long as every segment was less than the "Sabbath's walk", a person could walk a long distance. From the perspective of men, this was great. But in fact, they totally missed the point of why God created Sabbath.   Moreover, in Old Testament, when lending to a poor, one had to exempt all debt of a poor in the seventh's year. Because of that, when a poor wanted to borrow in year six, the wealthy would think: "The seventh's year is coming. His debt will all be exempted." As such, the wealthy wouldn't lend money to the poor. What could he do? Pharisees found a way out: the debt mentioned in the Bible belongs to personal lending. But if a wealthy person lent money to the Temple, and the Temple lent money to the poor, it was no longer a personal loan, but an institutional loan, which needed to be paid back. Pharisees thought of every ways so that people would not violate the laws. But in fact, what they did was to lose the true intention of God's merciful will. God's plan is to have people come back to Him. God wants people to be forgiven from their debt. But people used all kinds of laws to move away from God's will. How pitiful it was! When we come to God, let us not follow the example of Pharisees. May God shine His light on us and examine our hearts.     Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, may you help us not to be like a Pharisee.  From deep down in our hearts, we want to be willing to get closer to you and follow your laws, so that your love and mercy will manifest from our lives.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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